Suture anchors for anchoring a portion of suture in bone, and installation tools for deploying the same, are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,156, issued 2/6/90 to Gatturna et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,743, issued 2/13/90 to Nicholson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,468, issued 8/7/90 to Li; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/308,318, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,315, filed 2/8/89 by Gatturna; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/476,307, filed 2/7/90 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,550, by Li, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Still other suture anchors and suture anchor installation tools are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,100, issued 12/30/86 to Somers et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,255, issued 4/19/88 to Goble et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,330, issued 5/3/88 to Hayhurst, all of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
In some circumstances the suture anchor may be packaged separately from its associated installation tool; in addition, it may also be packaged separately from its associated suture, as well as packaged separately from the one or more surgical needles which are generally used in conjunction with the suture. In such a situation at least the suture anchor and installation tool, and possibly also the suture and needles, must be united in the operating room before use. See, for example, the apparatus described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,898,156 and 4,899,743, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/308,318. In a typical scenario using this apparatus, the suture anchor, suture anchor installation tool, suture and needles might all be packaged separately from one another. At the time of use, the suture is generally first attached to the suture anchor, then the needles are attached to the suture, and finally the suture anchor is attached to the installation tool. Only then may the installation tool be used to deploy the suture anchor in bone.
In other circumstances the suture anchor, suture, needles and installation tool may all be united with one another at the time of manufacture so as to form a complete, preassembled unit. See, for example, the apparatus described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,468 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/476,307. In a typical scenario using this apparatus, the preassembled unit is generally ready for use as soon as it is removed from its sterilized packaging.
The present invention is directed to situations where a suture anchor assembly, consisting of at least a suture anchor and suture, and preferably also at least one surgical needle, is preassembled prior to use, but where the suture anchor and suture anchor installation tool must be united at the time of use.
In such situations, it is important that the suture anchor be held stable while it is united with the suture anchor installation tool. In addition, it is important that the suture be kept from tangling after the suture anchor assembly has been removed from its packaging and before it is deployed in the body. Furthermore, in the situation where the suture anchor assembly comprises at least one surgical needle, it is important that the needles be kept shielded from both patient and physician once they have been removed from their protective packaging and before they are used at the surgical site.